Sew Liberated Studio Tunic

I loved sewing the Studio Tunic. I made it as a spinning tunic to protect my clothes from fibre & fluff, and it does the job beautifully. I used a mid-weight cotton upholstery fabric.

The instructions are very detailed and easy to understand (as with all Sew Liberated patterns). The finish on this simple garment is next level, and I enjoyed challenging myself to perfect my french seams and top stitching. Since it is such a utilitarian garment, you could easily skip some of the nicer finishes and just overlock/zig zag and sew as normal for a "quickie" version.

Highly recommend!

I decided to do another term of pottery classes this year and thought the Studio Tunic would be the perfect project to bring my two interests together!

The pattern is really well-drafted and the instructions are brilliant - clear, easy to read and with fantastic attention to how the tunic is finished on the inside. There are no fastenings, so this would be a great project for a confident beginner and I think you would learn several new techniques while you were sewing.

I made View B in a size 4 and I'm pleased with the fit - I can comfortably wear jeans and a jumper underneath for colder days in the studio, but it's not so roomy that it will get in the way. I used 2m of linen from Merchant and Mills for my tunic and I really like the lightweight, relaxed feel it has created.

Although I am yet to put my tunic through its paces in the pottery studio, I am delighted with how it has turned out. The pockets really are enormous and it's both comfortable and practical to wear. I quite fancy a version for the kitchen and one for the garden too and the Studio Tunic would also make a great gift, so this won't be the only time I use this pattern!

This is my first foray into dressmaking and it is wonderful. Slow, meditative, iterative and intensely satisfying and I’m only up to prepping the pockets. Each section of the process has demanded an accretion of new skills – finally understanding that a PDF pattern requires two stages between delivery and being ready to sew, finding that it is important to lay the unwieldy sellotaped sheets of printer paper onto a firm surface when tracing them onto tracing paper, and not use the carpeted living room floor, because that way punctures and movements in the tracing occur. The pleasure in beginning to hear a new language with its exotic vocabulary opening into a world of new distinctions: interfacing, with its bumpy and its smooth side, only vaguely distinguishable one from the other with the scratchy winter skin on my fingers that consistently lifts the piece away from its careful placing as I reach for a pin to keep it aligned; stay stitch, the delightful term for the kindergarten-like command that a single piece of fabric line itself up, stay still, without getting all squirmy, ready for when it makes its entrance to your garment; notch – a point of connection from one fabric piece to another, but which appear to take a variety of forms – the v and the double vv I’ve found on YouTube videos and the simple line on this pattern , which perhaps all connect in different ways, like any two people connect differently from any other two.
And then there is fabric. Again, an entire realm of previously unappreciated distinctions, connected to drape, feel, bulk, function and fantasy. I feel beckoned in so many directions, it has been hard to land gently in one place. My lovely friend, Susie, who had the joy of learning to sew with her mum, and now has two trestle tables and a sewing machine on permanent alert behind her sofa, recommended I start by making a mock-up from an old sheet, which is where I currently am. But, before I knew that stretch was a consideration in my final fabric choice I bought an old circular tablecloth from a charity shop – embossed red on deep red, gorgeous, intense and with the easy give of a good friend, but presumably, now redundant for the tunic that I am making. But, then the painful delight of finding that the only remaining fabric shop near me is closing and everything is half price and amongst the bolts of fabric not yet claimed by more experienced sewers, they have a brushed cotton check in a spring green which feels kind in its permission to take this process as slowly as I need.
And for me the immersive, thoughtful pace of the process is curative. I see that I will work more quickly in future - maybe even when I come to do this with my spring-green check – but, there is something in the reading and the re-reading of the instructions, the folding, pressing and careful aligning ready for stitching that my body and my mind both love, there is a kindness and gentleness in the process, mistakes are not wrong, just sites of new learning, YouTube videos love you when you ask, yet again, for advice on exactly what is meant by ‘basting’ or tips for identifying a steady 5/8”. A completed tunic will be a delight, no matter how it fits, or whether I wear it or not, what is so beautiful, right now, is the doing, slow and steady and absorbing.

This pattern was very easy to follow and the instuctions explain how to get a professional finish. It is a generous fit which I like because I plan to wear the tunic as a gardening tunic. When it gets colder I will wear a thick jumper or layers under it.

I used a thick corduroy for my tunic which worked fine. I used a piece of William Morris print fabric for the facings to cut down on the thickness and have some fun. You will see that I have also used the same print for the inner pockets and the loop on the back. I added inner pockets on both sides and made them slightly bigger to house my mobile phone and glasses and house keys. The only other thing I did differently was to use bias tape on the hem because I chose thick fabric.

I think the pattern would work well in denim, lighter cord and linen too and I might size down for an indoor tunic.

Because there are no zips, buttons or complicated seams, in my opinion, this pattern is suitable for beginners. Have fun!

This pattern and the directions were easy to follow.  The finished interior seams and facings make it quite professional.  I did find that it seemed quite large, even as an "easy fit" garment.  My first one (denim) I made to a size 10, and it's pretty big.  Then I repeated with a muslin (I know, should have started there) and ended up with a size 6 top and a custom armpits-to-hem width (graded from a 6 down to a four might be a guess).  So I definitely recommend doing a muslin first.

Finishing all the seams takes time, but could be skipped and just serged if you wanted to go that route.

The only really tricky part for me was the pockets.  Trying to get them lined up and sewn on when the garment was assembled gave me fits.  So on a couple of versions I just did one large pocket.  Doing another one I might think about slightly reducing the pocket size so it doesn't overlap the side seams so I could apply pockets before doing the side seams.  But, then again, the giant pockets are what drew me to the pattern.

Image guide:  denim-- size 10 all around, small and 2 large pockets

pink bird print light canvas-- size 6 top, smaller custom bottom, no center seam because of the pattern, 2 large pockets

dog print light canvas- size 8 top (if i'm remembering correctly) slightly smaller bottom- no center seam because of the pattern, 1 small 1 large pocket

pink and orange linen- size 6 top, custom bottom, center seam (1 matching topstitching, 1 contrast)